PubBlog

Lichfield:

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This one seems popular with the Lichfield Blog crowd and the rest of the twatter-using occupants of Lichfield, and we had time to kill before the 991 bus arrived, so we dropped in. We’ve been here before, a few years ago, on a Saturday, when it was packed, noisy, and like a sub-standard, cheap canteen.

It’s much better now. The main rooms have been refurbed, and the back room seems about to be. There’s a nice outside area (with a beach!), decentish beer, and nice staff.

Wall, near Lichfield, Staffordshire:

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As reported by Brownhills Bob a short while ago, The Trooper is now open again, so we took a walk out to have a look. A few years ago, this was a popular place for meals and well known for some distance around.

First impressions outside were good- it looks smart, but the first impressions inside weren’t: It had the appearance of being a bit too food biased, and maybe a little bit up itself: the restaurant area is large, and the staff had the standard upmarket food pub uniform.

This impression was wrong: The bar area is still a bar area, and while there’s a strong food bias (it’s a “restaurant and free house” according to signage), it still feels like a pub, unlike The Boat nearby, which doesn’t get a listing here as it’s a restaurant, not a pub.

It’s definitely gone for the ‘upmarket pub food’ end of the market, and seems to do this quite well: not cheap by any means, but not terribly expensive either, a good choice of beer and cider (several real ales, for a start), and a friendly barman. Lots of outside space too, but it’s a pity about the ‘Jazz Lite” music playing- it’s a bit like shopping mall lift music. To be honest, the slightly-posh pub food market is probably the only way to make a decent amount of money- making the pub a place people purposely go to for food, and it’s probably going to succeed there: certainly we’ll go back, even with the long walk.

The menu says it’s part of the Comfy Pub Company- which is based up the road in Stonall, and doesn’t seem to have any other pubs yet, which suggests that it’s been bought from the previous pub co, who allegedly drove a previous landlord out with high rents.

Lichfield:

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Further proof that often you can find better pubs just outside the very centre of a town. There’s cask ale, and when we visited a pretty decent band playing too. The place was full of locals, who knew each other, but was still friendly.

Lichfield:

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Another pub right in the centre of Lichfield, and this one embodies what’s wrong with many town centre pubs: Loud music, crap beer, and no soul. It even looks tatty, though it’s evidently not that long since a refurb.

Lichfield:

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This one did hit the spot. Just off the busy Bird St, this place is a free house, has cask ale, and advertises cobs. There’s a mix of ages, music (but not loud music), and friendly staff. The best pub of the evening.

Lichfield:

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Right in the centre of town, this pub is usually busy. It’s not a bad place: decent cask ale, outside space, cheap food. On the face of it it should be a very nice pub indeed, but something says ‘just OK’. A few too many pissed up blokes, kids playing football outside (this is in the yard of a town centre pub on Friday evening, not an afternoon in a spacious garden). Dunno, it just didn’t hit the spot.